A malaria parasite was recently discovered in many white-tailed deer across North America, by accident. Malaria is not something one would think could be discovered by chance, but researchers Ellen Martinsen, Rob Fleischer and more of their colleagues proved that thought wrong.

The team of researchers were working in Washington D.C., at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s genetics center. The team was looking for the source of malaria parasites in birds, specifically at the National Zoo. Using a technolgy that makes DNA easier to study, known as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), they ended up identifying the genetic signature of a different malaria parasite, one that was previously unknown in North America. The parasite is known as Plasmodium odocoilei, which yes, is hard to pronounce. The team was then luckily able to collect enough blood from the mosquito’s stomach to trace it back to the white-tailed deer.

The findings weren’t limited to one unfortunate deer either, the team tested over 300 deer across North America, and discovered the parasite in 41 of them. The team also tested other hoofed animals, such as elk and donkeys, but the deer seemed to be the only unfortunate animal to be infected.

The results of this accidental study are the mark of the first malaria species native to North America. David Hewitt, a researcher involved in the study, says ““This story suggests there is still much we don’t know about the natural world.” The findings suggest that malaria may have a large evolutionary history that we don’t fully understand. The evolution may even trace back to the ancestors of the white-tailed deer, who made their way to North America 5 million years ago.

The team plans to take this study further and look into whether the parasites have been causing any unknown illnesses in the deer so far. For Bambi’s sake, I hope they don’t find anything.

If you’re a car enthusiast and just read the title of this blog, don’t get too excited yet. Yes, self-driving cars are on the rise, but they’re not available on the market, and won’t be for awhile. However, companies such as Nissan, Tesla, Google, and Ford have recently been pouring massive amounts of funding into reasearch for this area. In fact, chairman of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, Carlos Ghosn, announced recently that Nissan is planning to release up to 10 new autonomous cars within the next four years.

However, one should also keep in mind that when these companies are speaking of “self-driving cars,” what that means in actuality is cars that could conceivably help or possibly take over in situations while a human is in the car. For example, a car like this could change lanes in tricky situation, or take over the steering around curves. The prototypes of self-driving cars so far are not able to be successful without a human still in the car, and will in numerous situations need the human to take over in situations that are more difficult than others.

Current technology in this area is known as “driver assist,” but many companies hope to take this to the next level. As of right now, driver assist cars can detect possible hazards on the road using a combination of cameras and sensors, and will warn the driver if an accident is about to occur. In the near future, the hope is that cars will still be able to detect the hazards, but also be able to take over the driving in harder situations. Chief Executive of Tesla said recently within a few years, they see it as conceivable to be able to “call” a car from across the country, and have it drive itself to you. The idea of that scares me a little, but I think it would be extremely appealing to some people.

Of course, there’s tons of positive buzz around this topic in the media right now, but there are also a few cons that may come along with the advancement of this technology. Some companies are worrying that by giving the driver less of the control, more danger may be the outcome. When these self-driving cars are theoretically running, issues may arise in the process of switching between car and human driver, at least until the completely autonomous car is developed. If the car was ready to hand off control, but the driver wasn’t ready, that would definitely cause some issues.

Despite the possible issues, I think this technology will be becoming a lot more popular in the near future, and maybe by then I’ll get over my fear of robot cars.

Citizen Science projects are a way for anyone in the community to make a contribution to something on a larger scale. Projects such as Project Squirrel give ordinary citizens the chance to be a part of research studies and learn new skills. Participating in this citizen science project was a great experience and I encourage people to find local projects that interest them and make the time to join in.

The project that I chose to participate in was called “Project Squirrel”. This project is a study that tracks the population of squirrels all across North America. You can become a citizen scientist for this project by simply going out into your neighbourhood and recording observations of squirrels, and then submitting these observations onto the project’s website. The project then analyzes this data and is able to extract information about the observation site and how it is changing. While tracking the population changes of the squirrels, the project is also able to collect data on the ecology/environment. By creating a large database of this information, we are able to get a more in depth look at how the environment/population may be changing.

Participating in this project was a fun and simple experience, and I would suggest it to others lookng for projects. I seperated my contributions into four different observations, at four different locations. Over the course of my observations, I learned to add more details into my notes to make the actual submissions much easier. I was able to succesfully complete those observations and submissions without much trouble, and it was a fun experience to actually look for the squirrels. This project can easily be completed by anyone, but it is way more fun if you are actually interested in it. Overall, I had a great time and I would recommend this project to anyone.

Typicaly people who recquire prosthetics of any type have not been granted a sense of a touch, but this may be about to change. Recent research at Stanford University has looked into the ability to combine prosthetics with artifical skin to create a sense of touch. The use of this artifical skin has not yet been tested on humans, but the results so far are promising.

The most recent design of this skin is made from a synthetic rubber that has micron-scale pyramid like structures that make it especially sensitive to pressure, almost like mini internal mattress springs. The material also includes carbon nanotubes, which are microscopic cylinders of carbon that are highly conductive to electricity. These nanotubes conduct electrcity when pressure is placed on the plastic. The bottom layer of the material acts like a circuit that receives electrical impulses and translates them into biochemical messages that nerve cells can read. Those messages are then received by the brain in a way that resembles how touch receptors in human skin send sensations to the brain. Stanford researcher Alex Chortos explains their goals for the technology as, “”We see it being able to stimulate nerves that are left over after the limb amputation, then those signals will go to the brain.”

Although the goal of this product is to be able to use the nerves in the remaining limbs of an amputee to connect with the artifical skin, researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) say that we don’t yet have that technology. Polina Anikeeva of MIT says, “Even if we can sense touch with an electronic device, it is challenging to create a communication interface between this device and the nerves.” Anikeeva also added that the commercialization of the device ultimately depends on people’s comfort level of using it. In order to optimize the comfort of this technology, the sense of touch created by the artificial skin would have to very closely mimic that of natural skin.

There are a few different groups of researchers working on this technology across the globe, and all see promising results. The group at Stanford has been working on this for about 10 years now, and leading researcher Chortos says they predict this product to be available in 3-6 years. Fellow Stanford researcher Zhenan Bao says, “We have a lot of work to take this from experimental to practical applications, but after spending many years in this work, I now see a clear path where we can take our artificial skin.” If these researchers are correct, I believe that their work could make a serious impact on the amputee community. Losing your sense of touch through prosthetics can’t be something easy to go through, so if this artificial skin is really feasible, it should become extremely popular.

You may think you know what you’re eating when you take a bite out of a doughnut, or picking out that gobstopper for yourself, but there are some parts of your food that you cannot see, and that are making an impact on your body. Particles between 1 and 100 nanometers in size, called “Nanoparticles” have been used in some foods for quite some time now. The most common type of nanoparticles are titanium dioxide nanoparticles, and these have the practical use of whitening and brightening certain foods, such as gobstoppers. Other nanoparticles are used to extend the shelf life of foods or smooth and thicken liquids. Although these particles may seem harmless based on their intended use, there may be some hidden cons to this phenomenon.

By changing a nanoparticle’s size and surface characteristics, scientists can affect how the particles behave in the body. Nano particles can interact with cells in odd and unexpected ways. For example there was a study by Gretchen Mahler of Binghamton University in New York that focused on understanding how nanoparticles affect the absorption of iron in the intestines. The first tests were done on chickens, and the nanoparticles impaired the absorption of iron by almost 50% initially. They did a few human trials and again found nanoparticles affected the absorption of iron.

These tests were analyzing samples that had been supplied with many more nanoparticles than one would find in the average food item, so the researchers are not certain that the effects would be as extreme coming from everyday consumption. However, if the amount of nanoparticles you consume builds up, you may seem some negative effects start to show.

On the other hand, different researchers have been looking into the use of nanoparticles

to benefit the consumer. Scientists such as Cristina Sabliov are studying how nanoparticles are absorbed in the body and how they may be able to design foods using nanoparticles to create “safer, more nutritious fare.” After all, once the nanoparticles enter the bloodstream, they can end up anywhere in the body, and are a potential mechanism to deliver nutrients to specific areas of the body.

There are many possibilities for the world of nanoparticles, and hopefully the beneficial elements will prevail. But, for now, until there is more evidence about the cons to this technology, it might be best to watch what you eat.

Sunday, September 27th was a day of triumphs for many, and losses for others. During the 2015 Vancouver Ironman, Adrian Anderson had a worse day than any other competitor when he collapsed dead partway through the race. This came as a surprise to many, but maybe not all. After looking further into the death of Adrian, we have decided that this was so accident, no unfortunate event, but that this was an act of murder. You may ask who committed this crime, and we asked ourselves this question too. After comparing all the evidence we could get our hands on, all fingers point in the direction of one man, Wilson Park.

Wilson Park couldn’t be more anxious to sell his share of the Lee building and Anderson’s stubbornness towards not selling put a damper on their otherwise amicable relationship. The last week leading up to Anderson’s death saw six meetings between Park and Omid Manucherri, a titan in the Vancouver real estate market. Wilson is known for going the extra mile when it comes to getting the deal done, with many touting him as a “fixer”. Being the successful and no doubt wealthy man he is, he has connections to get whatever it is that he needs, including the dose of arsenic found in Adrian Anderson’s coffee pot.

How could Park have dosed Anderson and, perhaps more importantly, why? Anderson’s nephew Ethan sent him a text message telling him to meet up for coffee. The two met at “Park It”, Park’s place of business, and enjoyed their coffee together. Wilson’s DNA and fingerprints were later identified on a pair of gloves near the coffee pot After Anderson’s death during the race, an evidence sample from the coffee pot tested positive for arsenic. Anderson’s race water also tested positive for the presence of amphetamines, but we believe there is an alternative explanation for this. Amphetamines can also be used as performance enhancing drugs, so we believe that they were self-administered by Adrian. An encrypted text message received by Adrian read “I know your secret, you’re not getting away with this”, and this refers to his use of amphetamines. These may have played a role in Anderson’s death, but they were not the leading cause. Park’s dose of arsenic, in tandem with the use of amphetamine and severe physical strain put Anderson into cardiac arrest, which ultimately killed him. Park’s brilliant method was to complicate the investigation by leveraging Anderson’s addiction against him.

Wilson Park was subtle man, but not subtle enough to conceal his emotions toward Adrian. When Park was asked about Adrian, he responded by saying that Anderson was a man who put himself first. Park is known to only say nice things about people, so this response came as a bit of a shock. The tension between Anderson and Park could have only helped Wilson along the road to becoming a murderer, and his motives were hinted at in his tweet “Yep, time to sell! Everything’s lining up, let’s do this thing”. The general twitter community would assume that this tweet pertains to the Lee building, but it also lines up with the murder of Adrian Anderson. Everything had lined up for Park, and he was ready to get the job done.

Park’s engagement in this crime came with little surprise, as all the evidence pointed towards him. Strongly motivated to sell the Lee building, Park’s final complication was Anderson. Combining Anderson’s use of amphetamines and the arsenic from the coffee pot under the strain of his body during the triathlon, this could not have been more brilliantly planned. Wilson was the man, that no one would suspect, he was just the owner of the local chair manufacturer. He saw the opportunity and he took it, and he might have gotten away with it if we hadn’t taken a closer look into Anderson’s death. Most triathlons are not as eventful as this one, and Adrian have been an unlucky competitor, but at least now he can rest in peace.

Putting horses and humans together in same category of medical treatment may not seem conventional, or even possible, but recently this thought has been proven wrong. Horses are one of the few animals that share similar types of injuries with humans, and an upcoming tech company by the name of “Echometrix” has come up with a new way to detect these new injuries with one technology. This new tech known as “Echosoft” could make incredible advances in the veterinary and medical field, but personally, I find the equine part of it a bit more interesting.

Photo Credit: Zoey Jones

In 2013, biomedical engineering professor Ray Vanderby and his ambitious student, Hirohito Kobayshi combined forces to found the company Echometrix. Their first commercial product, Echosoft was designed to be used in conjunction with ultrasound, but to provide a more accurate depiction of injuries.

Echosoft uses sound waves to track motion, deformation, and ultrasonic echo magnitude change. With this more detailed assessment, physicians can use Echosoft for quantitative results of the stiffness of muscles, ligaments, and tendons to help with diagnosis. Originally, Vanderby never had the intention of his innovation being used on anything other than humans, but researchers at UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine had a different idea.

Competitive horses, much like the one I lease, often suffer from similar tendon/joint injuries that humans do. I know this first hand because my horse just made it out of recovery from one of these injuries. Horse owners/leasers, such as myself, are known to invest crazy amounts of money into their horses, so UW-Madison wanted to take advantage of Echosoft to detect when an injury is present or healed. Unfortunately, I also know that vet bills can be extremely expensive, so the use of Echosoft for early detection of injuries would be a huge hit in the equestrian world.

Horses injuries are often not detected until they become a much larger problem. I once again have first hand experience with this; I once worked with a horse that had an unidentified tendon injury that wasn’t realized until he could barely walk. If this injury had been detected much earlier, the horse would have gone though much less pain and the treatment also would have been much less expensive, not that that was the main concern in the situation. Echosoft is able to provide a much more detailed and accurate reading than any previous technology, and I think it would prove to be very useful in situations such as the one I was in.

Photo Credit: Zoey Jones

This discovery may not be pertinent to everyone, but being the equine freak that I am, I found this extremely interesting and relevant to my life. I’m hoping that this technology will make it’s way to my vets office, so I could actually see it in action. Even though it wasn’t created for this purpose, in my opinion Echosoft will almost be more useful to horses than it will be to humans. If Echosoft does end up becoming a new phenomenon in the veterinary world, I can tell you there will a be a mob of very happy equestrians (including myself) thanking professor Ray Vanderby.